Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
October 6, 2015

FRENCH RIVIERA –– Horrific accounts of people drowning in a retirement home and being trapped in a road tunnel by floodwater have emerged after the French Riviera was hit by extreme downpours.

Rainfall on an “exceptional scale” set off flash floods that wreaked havoc along France’s south-eastern Mediterranean coast late Saturday. A representative of the French Alpes-Maritimes region police said today that 20 people are confirmed dead and two missing as a result of flooding.

Rescue workers pumping water out of a garage in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France, today.

“A man in his 60s was found dead earlier today in the parking lot of his residency in Mandelieu-la-Napoule. Another victim was just found dead in Cannes” the representative said.

As much as 180 millimetres (seven inches) of rain in a span of three hours inundated parts of the Alpes-Maritimes district late Saturday, authorities said. The area is home to famous seaside resorts such as Nice, Cannes and Antibes.

Three people were killed in a retirement home in Biot, a community near Antibes, and another person was killed on a road in Cannes, according to authorities.

The news agency Agence France-Presse reported emergency responders and local officials as saying that five people died as they tried to park their cars, and three others drowned when their vehicle became trapped inside a tunnel.

“Searches are continuing in the hardest hit areas, which are often difficult to access,” the Ministry of the Interior said, warning there was little hope of finding some of those missing alive.

France’s President Francois Hollande and Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve visited the area Sunday and met with emergency workers involved in the flood response.

The prefecture said road and rail networks had been badly affected by the flooding, warning people to avoid travel.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed torrents of water flowing through the centre of Cannes overnight.